Morgy turns 7!

We celebrated Morg's 7th B-Day on Monday night with a fun evening of present opening, dinner, & the highly anticipated B-day cake. Grandma & Grandpa Rose and Grandma Johnson joined us which is always so much fun for the kids. We missed Jordy and Kaleb.....they've been visiting Grandma and Grandpa Teichert for a few days. Morg's waited patiently all day to open all of her presents and as usual ended up making a haul. She got so many cute things and most of all enjoyed having a day all about her. I spent the day amazed at how quickly the last 7 years have gone by. Last year at this time I was lying in a hospital bed in Salt Lake City trying to keep Porter & Kamryn from being born early. DJ and I both had to miss our sweet Morgan's birthday as a result and I can remember crying my eyes out as I talked to her during her party. Morgan has been a joy to have in our home! Some of my favorite things about her are:

she's kind, extremely smart, shy, silly, sweet, spiritual, strives to do the right thing, responsible with regards to her school work (not always as responsible with room cleaning), honest, and loves to snuggle if it's on her terms. I love you so much, Morg's, and I hope you know how proud dad and I are of you! Happy Birthday!

She got a "Skip-it, clothes from Grandma & Grandpa T, and money from Great Gram & Grandp, and Aunt Julie!

Perhaps one of the cutest moments of the evening was when Morgan opened her gift from Regan which was a "Littlest Petshop Virtual Pet!" Along with the gift was a huge poster/card with a poem, song, comic, & letter all made up by Regan.

The letter was a classic and reads: Dear Morgan, I love you very very much, and I hope that you know that! I love you all so much Morgy. You are growing up so fast! 7 years old, I mean, sorry to mention it, but we are going to be old ladies pretty soon, and then, we might have only 3 choices: take care of each other, live in a nursing home, or sorry to mention it, or to-die. But, lets just enjoy being young, because after all, (thankfully) we have about 80 years left on Earth and so we have a lot of time to hang out together. Anyway, love, your sister, Regan!

G&G Rose gave her the cutest princess alarm clock that plays princess music to wake you up.

DJ & I gave her clothes, flip flops, and a "skip it." Her primary teacher brought a bag full of fun things including a Bible stories book, bubbles, picture of Jesus for the nightstand, a journal, candy, etc. Her friends brought her hairstuff, art things, and a journal. Morgan and Regan made these "present cakes" and decorated them to their liking. I think they did a great job!

"I had the best Birthday EVER mom"

And......she's off!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

So far behind!

I've put a little bit of everything on this post so look out, it's a long one!

-----

First off, DJ went to Mesa, AZ, Wednesday through Saturday of last week. We missed him like crazy, especially since he normally doesn't travel except for his yearly Tutor Trac Conference. It's been held in Mesa for a couple of years now and I'm kicking myself that I didn't take off and go with him. I could have, but just chickened out with leaving the kids. I really am to the point that I think it would be fun to get away but I just feel guilty leaving the kiddy's behind. Sooo... anyway, I did fine with the kids on my own and DJ had a great time without me. He was able to spend a couple of evenings with my Uncle Derin & Aunt Kim and had such a great time visiting and catching up with them. He spent the remainder of his time attending the conference, reading, working from his laptop, and missing us. The kids were hilarious; they had this HUGE homecoming party planned for him on Saturday which involved hours of coloring, decorating, practicing talents, making refreshments, etc. So, we went to the airport to pick him up where the kids piled out of the car and peered through the window watching for DJ to walk down the escalator and as soon as they saw him they were screaming at the top of their lungs as if he'd been gone for a month. It was really adorable! DJ was surprised at home with a very decorated basement, a big talent show, cookies made by Regan, invitations, and gifts at the end. I think DJ was feeling the love! I just thought is was darn cute that they would go to such great lengths to welcome him home.

These are the cute invitations and the big "welcome home" poster and you see the row of sports balls....that's just a little section, the whole living room had a border or different things cut out and on a few they had written characteristics about their dad that they love such as, "kind, funny, loving, etc. You are loved, DJ!!

- - - - -

While DJ was gone, Morgan lost another tooth. I think she spent one whole day wiggling it and at the end, she pulled it out by herself. We had to take a picture of the event, although, I cut off the top of her head in both pictures. What a dingbat!

- - - - -

The babies think they need to be outside playing right along with the kids and they sit and cry by the door until I let them out. Yesterday I put Kamryn out on the front porch where Kaleb was playing with a squirt gun and big bowl of water. Ya ya, I know, big mistake. I heard her squealing and I walked out to find Kaleb squirting Kamryn point blank about an inch away from her head and she was drenched. It was pretty naughty but pretty darn funny so my scolding and laughing at the same time didn't really work out.

Porter isn't too fond of the grass yet so he holds his legs up in the air for the longest time and doesn't move an inch. Kamryn, on the other hand, isn't afraid of anything and eats everything in sight...grass, mud, leaves, rocks, you name it.

- - - - -

I made another successful coupon trip to Albertsons this morning. I spent $15.15 and saved $71.03 and this is what I came away with:

5 boxes wheat thins

2 boxes trisquits

3 boxes ritz crackers

1 gallon milk

10 containers yoplait yogurt

8 bottles of Kraft salad dressing

2 packs extra gum

1 3 lb. roast

I love a great deal!

Happy Helpers

Oh how I wish this post was about 2 "older" happy helpers happily unpacking the dishwasher but unfortunetly, it's about 2 little 10 month olds having the time of their life unpacking the dishwasher. If only the other kids would grin like this when asked to pack or unload the dishwasher. It doesn't matter where the babies are in the house, when they hear my squeeky dishwasher door open they both come crawling as fast as they can with big grins on their faces ready to do some serious damage. I've managed to catch a few dishes as they fly in every direction but also missed a few. There is never a dull moment around our house!!!

-------

Who is having more fun here?

This is just a little glimpse in to the future, only I'm not sure that the smiles will be there...I can only hope though. I love my little boys!

FHE

Another crazy week is more than half way over and I can't even account for what I've done. I went back through my pictures and realized that I forgot to post a fun thing we did last week for Family Home Evening. First we colored easter eggs with the kids, this has never been my favorite thing to do with the kids because of the huge mess but I have to admit, this time was different. (I can't believe I didn't take one picture) They had such a good time and I just enjoyed watching them have at it. Anyway, after that DJ hid 4 eggs filled with candy in some tough spots outside and they went on a "mini" easter egg hunt, yes, they were thrilled with 1 egg (they knew it was just a teaser) and then we took them roller blading down by the river. We intended to only go about half the way around the path which is 2 1/2 miles or so but I guess we were enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery too much and ended up going all the way around. Regan and Morgan roller bladed the entire way and Jordyn walked most of the way. DJ and I took turns pushing the babies in the stroller and packing Kaleb from time to time. Everyone was good and tired by the time we got home but it was a nice evening spent together. I love family night and find myself protecting this precious time with my family as if it were gold. It seems that we don't have a lot of time to be together between DJ's work, & calling and the kids activities so I live for Monday nights.

Easter weekend was nice. I took the kids to the Ucon Easter Egg hunt and as usual, my kids were scared out of their minds. They don't love crowds and, of course, they all had to be in different age groups to hunt so I had to split them up so I think it was more tramatic than fun. I laughed when I saw Jordyn's basket because all it had in it was a can of pop and 2 eggs. The girl loves pop and we don't give it to her except on special occasions so she was thrilled. Morgan and Regan said they had fun but both requested that next year we do our own hunt. I felt so bad that I came home and filled a bunch of eggs and an hour later we were having our own hunt in our front yard. I think they had more fun that time and they all over-dosed on chocolate--especially Kaleb. The kids just doesn't know when to quit, he finished all of his candy in 1 day and there was a lot. Oh well, at least it's gone. Anyway, I got each of the kids a big picture of Jesus for their rooms in hopes that they would focus more on him than on the candy. They were genuinely thrilled and quickly hung their pictures up on their walls. I hope that their focus will always be on their Savior.

Jordyn's play date!

Jordy had a fun playdate with her friend, Kylie, yesterday. She's been begging me for weeks to have this little friend over so yesterday was a "dream come true" as she put it. They played a little bit of everything and didn't have one argument in the 4 hours they played.....nothing short of a miracle, if you ask me.

They had a little tea party with "Mr. & Mrs. Bunny."

They loved playing dress up but wanted a little more dress up variety I guess because they asked to use some of my clothes. I, of course, didn't really mind because I don't own anything that nice so they went through my closet and picked their favorites. They used a few of my jewelry pieces and modeled for me. What cute little girls!

Conference Weekend in Cokeville

This week has been nuts! The babies are teething and they are miserable! I'm barely getting the basics done (thanks to my mom) She came up Wednesday and watched a few of the kids so I could run some errands and get a little bit of cleaning done. Thanks, mom!! The rest of the week has been filled with soccer practices, homework, meetings, playdates, cooking, and a few hours of sleep, and I do mean a few but somehow I don't feel completely run over. I think because I started running again and I always feel better after a good run.

As a result of the craziness, I haven't had a second until now to write about our fun weekend in Cokeville with DJ's family. We haven't been home for so long to see DJ's parents, in fact, the babies weren't even mobile to speak of the last time they saw them. Now Kamryn is almost walking and Porter is right behind. Needless to say, they've missed out on a lot and we've just missed being with them. We were all able to go except for Regan as she was spending the weekend with G&G Rose down at Conference. (more to come on that) We missed her terribly but had such a nice relaxing weekend watching conference, ate way too much good food, thanks to DJ's mom, and loved every second of the fun visits of family members. I have to mention that one of the highlights of our trips to Cokeville is that the kids get to see their Uncle Johnny. They adore him in every sense of the word. He gives them gobs of attention, tells them funny stories, wrestles with them, teases, sometimes torments them, and they LOVE it. Well, due to a bad storm, he got snowed in at a bull sale and didn't arrive home until Sunday morning. I wish I would've had my video camera for the moment he came in the door. Every last one of the kids went running to him, screaming his name, hugged his legs and jumped in to his arms. It was just about the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. I am kicking myself because I took my camera and after about 6 pictures, the battery died and....you guessed it, I forgot the battery pack! Darnet!!!!! But, I did manage to snap a couple of cute pics while it lasted. I love DJ's family so much; we always feel so welcome when we visit. Mom practically waits on us hand and foot, in fact, I always feel so guilty because I'm chasing the kids around while she's slaving away in the kitchen making a nice meal for us. Thanks mom and dad Teichert for a fun filled weekend. We love you!

The kids loved their conference packets and the cousins seemed to enjoy them as well. It kept them quiet a good portion of them time and I think they might have even learned a few things while they worked away. During one of the songs DJ told them he could see Regan on the t.v. waving at all of them. They totally fell for it, they all jumped up and ran to the t.v. to see her. DJ is such a tease!

I had to take this picture of dad's finger on the remote button. Mom says he falls asleep watching t.v. with remote in hand, and finger in place, all the time. I got the biggest kick out of it! Sorry dad!

DJ's parents went to Hawaii in February and brought back grass skirts, necklaces, and coconuts, for the girls, the babies got the cutest little Hawaiin outfits, Kaleb got these adorable overalls (which he loved and insisted on wearing over his clothes every day), I got a pretty swim suit coverup skirt, I'm sure there is a name for the thing but I don't know what it is. Anyway, they spoiled us rotten and the kids were pretty thrilled with their things.

Our kids love playing with the cousins, Tanna, Janae, & Leonna, that live next door to Grandma. They love playing "house" in Grandma T's basement. They are all so cute with the babies and love to help with whatever they can. You can tell how much Tanna loves the babies in this picture as she's helping Grandma feed Kamryn and bottle. I LOVE the sweet look on her face.

As I mentioned, Regan had a great time at Conference. She loved hanging out with G&G Rose and thought attending conference was amazing even though this wasn't her first time. Thanks to my mom and dad for giving her these neat opportunities to feel the spirit.

I think these pictures show what a great time she had on her weekend get-away!

Speaking of conference, wasn't it awesome? I don't think I could pick a favorite but I have to say that Elder Holland's talk was especially touching because of his powerful testimony throughout. I would agree with my grandma when she said we should be grateful we were able to hear it and not just read it at some other time. His testimony of the Savior's atonement was so deep and powerful and really strengthened my testimony.

I always look forward to hearing from our beloved prophet, President Monson. I found myself shushing the kids over and over because I didn't want to miss anything. I Love conference and feel so blessed to have leaders that will guide us back to our Heavenly Father if we will just follow their council.

WINNINGS!!!

Today is a great day! My winnings came in the mail today from Wendy, who had a fun give away on her B-Day a couple of weeks ago. I chose the cutest bag from the fun site cheekyandswank.com and bless Wendy's heart, along with the bag came two adorable bibs (on the house) for the babies. I have to say, these bibs are the cutest and the magnet clasp is pretty neat, I'm always impressed with the things other people come up with. Go check out the site if you have a second, (I can't figure out how to do the link) but they have such fun things. Anyway, I'm super excited about my bag and can't wait to fill it with lots of things! I think I'll use it as a purse/diaper bag since mine is totally falling apart. Thanks, thanks, thanks, Wendy! You are a sweetheart!

The babies sporting their new bibs!

Here is my cute bag, it's got a nice adjustable strap that isn't shown in the picture. The material is so adorable! My kids tell me that I'm in style now, lucky for me. Too bad I'm not a great photographer cause these pics just don't do it justice. Anyway, you get the idea. Just go to the site and check things out!

A great two days!

I took the kids and drove to Logan on Monday and Tuesday to spend the day with my sister, Julie. Together we have 10 kids so you'd naturally think it was chaos but...it wasn't! We had a ball and I never once felt overwhelmed! In fact, making lunch and dinner for the kids was a piece of cake with 2 of us and the dishes were fun to do with someone to visit with. The kids played together and got along really well. It isn't very often that they spend time together so they made up for lost time. My kids think Aunt Julie's toy room is the best and Regan and Morgan couldn't wait for Uncle Stanton to come home so he could hook up the Wii. Regan fell in love with Julie's fun craft room filled with endless craft possibilities. In fact, Monday night Julie, Regan, and I stayed up late making cards and Julie helped Regan make the cutest notebook! It was fun to watch Regan come up with fun ideas and get so excited about the outcome. Julie laughed at all of Regan's funny jokes and silliness (which I currently find a bit annoying.....shame on me) but that's what is so great about Aunt's! Thanks, Juj! Regan really needed that!! My favorite part about the two days was hanging out with Julie until 12:30 a.m. while all kids were snoozing away, searching around on the Internet for great deals, giggling at each others sleepy, delirious humor, and marveling over our great Post cereal deals!! I'm so glad we got to spend a couple of days together, thanks to Julie for putting up with the crowds! This is the cute notebook created by Regan with help from Julie and these are the cards I made, again with help from Julie. I don't have a crafting bone in my body so this was tricky for me but I pulled it off and actually enjoyed myself. And...I forgot my camera, I can't believe it, so I'm relying on my sister posting pictures of the kids together. (hint, hint, Julie) So...pictures to come, maybe later.

\

Thanks for the pics, Juj! Love you!